The latest in Wisconsin...
NOV. 18, 2021
On Nov. 18, Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the congressional map passed by Republicans in the state legislature, sending responsibility for redistricting to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The Republican map was not so different from the current map — which was drawn by Republicans in 2011 — although the districts are more compact, a likely attempt to insulate Republican lawmakers from the accusations of gerrymandering they've weathered over the past decade. The proposal did slightly increase the Republican lean of the 3rd Congressional District, which is currently held by retiring Democrat Ron Kind. But since that district already leans Republican by 9 points, it will be a difficult seat for Democrats to hold onto in 2022 unless it’s made more Democratic-leaning in the redistricting process.
Despite the responsibility for drawing new maps falling to the legislature, Evers put together a “People’s Maps Commission,” which is charged with processing public comments and drawing up what are meant to be fair maps. While the commission’s proposed map was not adopted by the legislature, it could be used in court arguments down the line.
Wisconsin’s current congressional map favors Republicans, so it is unsurprising that the commission map is more favorable to Democrats than the current one. The proposed map would create an extremely competitive 1st District, which currently leans Republican by 14 points according to FiveThirtyEight’s partisan lean metric, and would make the 3rd District slightly less Republican leaning, although still favorable to the GOP. All in all, there would be five Republican-leaning districts, two Democratic-leaning districts and one highly competitive district under this plan.
The proposal doesn’t put Democrats on an equal footing to Republicans in purple Wisconsin, but that is in large part thanks to geography. Democrats are highly concentrated in Dane and Milwaukee counties, while Republicans aren’t as highly concentrated in any one part of the rest of the state. It simply would be very difficult to make Democrats competitive in an equal number of seats to Republicans without drawing funkier lines and breaking up municipalities, which the commission was directed not to do.